LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan’s top election official on Thursday released proposed application wording and eligibility guidelines for people wanting to serve on a new commission that will draw congressional and legislative districts instead of lawmakers.

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said her office will accept public input until Aug. 9. She called it the initial step of the first phase of a three-phase process that will culminate with new maps in 2021.

The 2018 voter-approved ballot initiative that created the panel spells out the process by which 13 members — four Democrats, four Republicans and five with no affiliation with either party — will be selected at random. The law also includes eligibility rules.

But Benson, a Democrat, cited a couple areas where she decided to provide clarification regarding eligibility to sit on the commission. The constitutional amendment, for instance, says commissioners cannot currently be or in the past six years have been a candidate for partisan federal, state or local office. Others excluded include state or legislative employees, lobbyists and paid political consultants.

She set the six-year cutoff date at Aug. 15, 2014. She also declared that candidates to be a political party’s precinct delegate within the past six years are ineligible to serve on the panel.

“We’re not just going to be doing this process correctly and effectively and as best as we can, engaging citizens at every step of the way,” Benson told reporters. “In our view, this will historically influence several decades into the future for how this independent commission is run, so we’re mindful of that.”

After the public-comment period, the secretary of state’s office will make applications available starting this fall through June 1. It also will mail at least 10,000 applications at random to residents by Jan. 1.